Arab states and US discuss Gaza reconstruction plan
Officials from the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine agreed to continue consultations on their Gaza reconstruction plan with US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, it was announced after a meeting in Qatar on Wednesday.
The plan was approved during an Extraordinary Arab Summit in Cairo last week and is an alternative to Trump's 'Middle East Riviera' proposal, which seeks to depopulate the enclave under US control.
The Arab plan consists of three major stages: Interim measures, reconstruction and governance.
The Arab officials emphasised the importance of: "establishing a ceasefire in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing the need for genuine efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution," the statement said.
Joint Communique of the Five-Member Ministerial Committee on Gaza's Meeting with the US President's envoy to the Middle East #MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/0Wd6usbCSt
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) March 12, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TAG 91.1
24 minutes ago
- TAG 91.1
H.H. Sheikh Abdullah meets US counterpart in Washington DC
The two officials reviewed "avenues of bilateral cooperation across several developmental sectors, particularly in the economic, commercial, scientific, advanced technology and artificial intelligence fields," Emirati state media reported. Discussions also covered the state visit of US President Donald Trump to the UAE in May, with both sides affirming that the visit's outcomes reflected the strength of the UAE-US ties and their joint resolve to deepen cooperation and expand partnership in all fields. Sheikh Abdullah praised the long-standing strategic partnership between the UAE and the United States, underscoring that the US remains a key strategic ally. He expressed the UAE's commitment to work jointly with the US to further strengthen this exceptional relationship in a way that achieves greater prosperity and sustainable development for both nations and their peoples. During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Marco Rubio also discussed overall regional developments. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah reaffirmed the UAE's keenness to cooperate with the United States and regional and international partners in promoting peace and stability, and in fostering the values of coexistence and human fraternity in societies. The meeting was attended by Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the US; Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister for Political Affairs; Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri, Assistant Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs; and Dr. Maha Taysir Barakat, Assistant Minister for Medical Affairs and Life Sciences at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Zawya
Trump immigration crackdown creates jobs distortions, Fed headaches: McGeever
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) ORLANDO, Florida - Seismic shifts in immigration are distorting the U.S. employment picture, making it harder for investors and policymakers to know exactly how much the labor market is actually slowing. Assuming the Trump administration makes good on its pledge to reduce immigration, either by stopping the flow of people coming into the country or by deporting many already here, the labor supply will shrink. The long-term impact of lower immigration is generally agreed to be negative, as new workers are needed to replace retirees, fill job vacancies and drive economic growth. Over time, fewer new workers will likely mean lower growth. But in the short term, a smaller pool of workers results in a tighter labor market, which keeps a lid on the unemployment rate, albeit artificially and probably temporarily. This may already be playing out. Figures released last week showed that employment in May fell by 696,000 jobs. That's the biggest single monthly decline since the historic losses seen during the pandemic in early 2020. Some economists argue that the recent drop is a consequence of Trump's immigration crackdown. Nonfarm payrolls rose 139,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, which though higher than it was two years ago, is still historically low by any measure. All else being equal, this points to a tight labor market, which should put upward pressure on wages and perhaps even warrant a more hawkish policy stance from the Federal Reserve. But that is almost certainly a misreading. When labor supply and the labor force participation rate fall, this brings down a country's so-called 'breakeven' job growth. That's the number of net new jobs the economy needs to keep up with growth in the working-age population and maintain a steady unemployment rate. That figure is falling, and if the Trump administration toughens up its anti-immigration policies further, this decline is likely to accelerate. LOWER FOR LONGER According to economists at Morgan Stanley, breakeven employment growth averaged 210,000 jobs a month last year, and is averaging 170,000 so far this year. They reckon it will fall to 90,000 by the end of this year and 80,000 next year. Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, goes further, estimating that the breakeven rate is "quickly approaching" 50,000 jobs a month due to weakening labor supply growth, primarily because of reduced immigration. "The unemployment rate can remain low, but for the wrong reasons," Sweet says. If these projections prove accurate, monthly employment and job growth could continue to slow without raising the unemployment rate. The contradictory signals this sends could create confusion for both investors and policymakers. In his press conference after the most recent Fed policy meeting, Chair Jerome Powell repeatedly told reporters that the labor market is "solid". The unemployment rate "remains low," and the labor market is "at or near maximum employment." If these headline indicators are the gauge, Powell is absolutely correct. But he also stressed that policymakers are looking at the "whole huge array" of labor market indicators for a truer guide. One of those inputs in the months ahead will no doubt be net immigration. And that could generate significant uncertainty, as there are huge gray areas and wide margins of error when trying to estimate net immigration and its impact on the labor market. In January, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected net immigration of 2 million people this year and 1.5 million next year, down from an estimated 3.3 million in 2023. With Trump seemingly hardening his stance on immigration, those projections could turn out to be far too high. Morgan Stanley's economists just slashed their immigration forecasts to 800,000 this year and 500,000 next year. If these figures turn out to be closer to reality, we could soon be looking at a "tight" labor market with monthly payrolls gains of well under 100,000. Pity the poor Fed Chair who has to communicate policy in that environment. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn and X. (By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Zawya
Investment glass seems half full near mid-point of 2025: Mike Dolan
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters Open Interest) LONDON - A consequence of U.S. President Donald Trump's global economic upheaval seems to be greater "home bias" in investing - going some way toward explaining the year's relative performance while seeming chaos sows stimulus around the world. Many of the half-year appraisals of Trump's often erratic trade and economic agenda attempt to cut through policy noise to suggest where the world will ultimately pan out. Larry Fink, boss of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, opined last week about a "second draft of globalization", one positioned somewhere between the rejected inequities of unfettered global trade and capital and another alternative of stifling economic nationalism and capital curbs. The new middle ground can still enjoy open markets, Fink reckons, but they will likely be steered, prodded and tempted home to ensure household savings first benefit the country of those doing the saving. "People will fuel their country's economic growth and own a piece of it," Fink argued in an op-ed in the Financial Times. For Fink, this "re-globalization" aims "not just to generate prosperity but to aim it towards the people and places left behind the first time." Trump's attempted re-industrialization of America is a version of this idea. Using trade barriers, bilateralism, carrots and sticks, he seeks to kick-start U.S. manufacturing while accepting that lower trade deficits will also see lower overseas investment flows to U.S. markets and smaller government to boot. The political pitch is to create more well-paid factory jobs instead of super-wealthy asset owners. Easier said than done. MAKING EVERYWHERE GREAT AGAIN? But whatever one thinks about Trump's "America First" strategy, that formula seems to be working best overseas. Germany's dramatic fiscal reboot this year, which was catalyzed by both Trumpism and far-right populism at home, also speaks to the new globalization theme. Europe at large now appears to be prioritizing investment in its own industrial base, security, digital infrastructure and green technologies - hoping to unleash both under-utilized savings at home and attract capital from Wall Street. Britain is apeing these industrial and defence policy trends, while Japan is attempting to unlock its domestic pension savings too. Meanwhile, Chinese fiscal stimulus has also risen. So while trade war jitters abound, it sets up potentially synched fiscal boosts next year. TS Lombard's Rory Green and Alexandros Xenofontos pointed out on Monday there could be strong fiscal stimuli in Europe, China and possibly the U.S. in 2026 - a trifecta that's only happened twice in 30 years, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. That possibility goes some way to explain why, despite all the market volatility and hype surrounding a U.S. cyclical slowdown, global stock markets are once again hitting record highs. It also explains why it's been a bad year for global sovereign bonds and the U.S. dollar - as stimulus requires more borrowing and foreign investors shed overweight U.S. holdings. Even though Wall Street stocks are just about positive for the year, they are underperforming the likes of equity indexes in Germany and Hong Kong by 25%-40%. If even some of the estimated $7 trillion of European money that flowed into U.S. equities over the past dozen years were to be repatriated, markets would price such a move very quickly. And despite all the concern about the U.S. economic and political direction, American money is not rushing offshore. Mutual fund data shows net U.S. flows to global equity funds remain negative through this year. In fact, they're at their most negative in more than two years. Cash flowing to U.S. money market funds, meantime, has climbed back above $7 trillion again in the latest week, near the record high set in April. 'KERNEL OF TRUTH' Does that data mean the ultimate outcome of Trump turning the world upside down could actually be positive? In an article for the Council on Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs magazine titled "Tell Me How This Trade War Ends," Emily Kilcrease and Geoffrey Gertz reckon that despite all the Trump chaos, there is a "kernel of truth" in his insistence that the world trade system needs a re-set. They conclude there is no going back to a world where the U.S. championed ever freer trade. Neither is it inevitable that the world will retreat into outright protectionism, as long as Trump pushes other U.S. allies into a new, less-lopsided trading framework. "Trump's shock to the system may not be pretty. But it could open the way for a much better system," Kilcrease and Gertz wrote. "Trump has turned the United States into a revisionist power seeking to shatter what remains of the economic order. Thus far, his approach has been needlessly chaotic," they said. "But there is still an opportunity to wrest a positive outcome from the current tumult." At nearly the mid-point of the year, investors seem tempted by this "glass half full" view of 2025's disruption. The optimists are trying to see through the inevitable twists and turns ahead to focus on the possibility of a new, more positive equilibrium down the line. In truth, much remains murky and unknowable at this point. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters. (by Mike Dolan; editing by Anna Szymanski and Paul Simao)
